The biggest corporate hiring spree in five years ended a weeklong slide in the US stock market on Friday.
The biggest corporate hiring spree in five years ended a weeklong slide in the US stock market on Friday.
The Labor Department reported private employers hired 268,000 people last month, the most since February 2006. Taking into account job cuts of government workers, the economy added a total of 244,000 jobs overall last month, well above the 185,000 jobs that analysts had predicted.
It was the third straight month with an increase of more than 200,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate rose, however, to nine per cent from 8.8 per cent in part because more people who resumed looking for work.
The news on job growth helped lift the dollar, nudged up oil prices and reversed a four-day slump for stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 54.57 points, or 0.4 per cent, to close at 12,638.74.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.10, or 0.4 per cent, to 1,340.20. The Nasdaq composite rose 12.84, or 0.5 per cent, to 2,827.56.
Industrials companies that benefit from global building and expansion projects led the market following the jobs report.
Friday's bounce failed to make up for losses earlier this week, when fears of an economic slowdown and weaker-than-expected earnings dragged down the major stock indexes.
All three ended the week down more than one per cent.
